美国国家公共电台 NPR In Satirical 'Severance,' A Stricken Country Works Itself To Death

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The new novel "Severance¹" is about immigration and 21st-century office work and also the apocalypse. The main character, Candace Chen, is a first-generation American whose parents came from China. When a fatal disease wipes out most of the U.S. population, Candace is the last one still at the office. This is the first book from the author Ling Ma, and it started out as a short story. She told me that imagining the world falling apart - the office buildings, the subways, people's daily routines - was actually a lot of fun.

LING MA: To me, it was a very gleeful short story. But there was also this undercurrent of anger, and I tried to source that anger back to its origin, which had to do with work, which had to do with capitalism², which had to do with working in an office.

SHAPIRO: Yeah. The apocalypse is almost a tool that forces people to stop doing the kind of work that otherwise they would keep doing until they retire or drop dead, it seems like.

MA: Yeah. Liberation (laughter) finally.

SHAPIRO: Apocalypse as liberation, yeah.

MA: Yes (laughter).

SHAPIRO: But there's something about this disease, too, Shen fever, which manifests itself in the kind of repetitive activities that seem to reference the kind of drudgery³ work that you're also talking about in the novel.

MA: Yeah. So Candace is a production coordinator⁴ of Bible manufacture in China. She works out of New York. And I was thinking about the repetitive actions of factory work, just the same gestures over and over. And I was also thinking on Candace's side, like, her work routine, waking up, making coffee, getting on the train, just that repetition. And I wanted to somehow unleash⁵ that (laughter) and maybe exaggerate it and amplify⁶ it upon the whole world.

SHAPIRO: So describe the symptoms of Shen fever.

MA: So the victims of Shen fever are typically locked into, like, a loop of routine. So, for instance, a mother setting the table might keep resetting⁷ the same table over and over again.

SHAPIRO: And what's so creepy about this is that it doesn't seem that far off from behaviors that we all engage in every day, whether that's scrolling⁸ through Twitter or clicking on email or whatever it might be.

MA: That's right. When I wake up in the morning and I'm on my smartphone, like, right away, I ask myself that.

SHAPIRO: There's a moment where Candace's boss at this publishing house where she works says, you're young. You're maybe under the impression that everyone gets to do what they want for a living. You might be unhappy here, but you're not going to be happier anywhere else.

MA: That's right. What are the other options (laughter)?

SHAPIRO: Did you ever have a job where a boss might have said something like this?

MA: Not to me personally, but I've had many jobs where I wondered the same thing (laughter). I actually started this novel in the last months of my last office job.

SHAPIRO: Really?

MA: Yeah. So the company I was working at was consolidating¹⁰ their offices, and as a result, they were letting a lot of employees go. And just watching that was a very eye-opening process. And so I just started writing this at work (laughter).

SHAPIRO: Did you feel lucky not to have been laid off, or did you feel jealous of the people who were forced to do something other than the drudgery they'd been doing for decades?

MA: Oh, I was laid off (laughter).

SHAPIRO: You were laid off.

MA: Yes, I was laid off.

SHAPIRO: And was that liberation or punishment?

MA: I think the first two weeks are absolutely liberation (laughter). I got on my unemployment, and I called it my arts fellowship.

(LAUGHTER)

MA: But after that, the question of what to do and the reality of it starts to sink in.

SHAPIRO: At one point, I wondered as I was reading this description of Shen fever coming over from China whether you were writing an allegory about globalization and in favor of closed borders.

MA: I'm not sure if I thought too much about closed borders. But what I did think about is how do I make the effects of global capitalism more visible? Often when I buy a shirt or something from H&M, like, I'm completely cut off from the manufacturing side of things. I don't know the personal toll¹¹ that it takes to make something. And I wanted that to be more visible, and I wanted that to be like a disease that inflicts¹² the world in some way.

SHAPIRO: Your main character, Candace, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Your family came to the U.S. from China when you were a child. Do the similarities between you and Candace extend farther than that?

MA: Candace and I do share some biographical details, but we're very different. Like, for instance, a key difference is, like, my parents are still alive. But I do remember when I immigrated¹³ to the U.S., one of my mother's fears was that something would happen to herself or my father. I would be completely estranged¹⁴ in this country, and that if I lost touch with my language, if I lost touch with Chinese culture, even if I were to try to return to China, it would be really difficult. So I think in a way I had Candace Chen embody¹⁵ my mother's fears.

SHAPIRO: Because Candace is very much cut off from - her parents are no longer alive. She doesn't have a firm grasp of the Chinese language. She's losing that connection.

MA: Yeah. And I think this is a specific fear that many immigrants have for their children.

SHAPIRO: A lot of apocalypse stories wrestle¹⁶ with meaning-of-life questions. Why am I still here when others are not? What's the purpose? What's the point? Was writing this a way to explore some of those questions for yourself?

MA: Yeah. I suppose in a way I was trying to figure out how does one make a meaningful life in this capitalist system? And Jonathan, who's Candace's boyfriend, he lives like a typical artist, and he doesn't own very many things. He thinks that it's possible to opt⁹ out of the system in a way. And for Candace, it's just not reasonable to her.

SHAPIRO: How difficult was it for you to opt out and instead become a novelist?

MA: Well, never say never. I might, you know (laughter)...

SHAPIRO: You might take an office job tomorrow. Is that what you're saying (laughter)?

MA: Yeah. I just knew that I wasn't going to go into another office job for at least a long time. And it was strange because as more and more employees were searching for other jobs, they started to slowly leave, and the office that I worked in became more and more silent and desolate¹⁷ (laughter). And it felt really strange, but it also felt like all of the rules were broken.

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

MA: Like, I would come in and the IT department would give me, like, a glass of champagne¹⁸ at 9 in the morning and a doughnut.

SHAPIRO: Really?

MA: (Laughter) Yeah.

SHAPIRO: That's amazing.

MA: It was really fun.

SHAPIRO: Well, it sounds like you have the best of both worlds. You have all the benefits of surviving the apocalypse without seeing the entire civilization around you crumble¹⁹ and everyone die.

MA: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: Well, Ling Ma, it's been great talking with you. Thanks so much.

MA: Thank you so much, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Her new novel is called "Severance."

(SOUNDBITE OF COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA'S "TOPSY")

1 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 drudgery   

n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作

参考例句：

• People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
• He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

6 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

7 resetting   

v.重新安放或安置( reset的现在分词 )；重拨（测量仪器指针）；为（考试、测试等）出一套新题；重新安置，将…恢复原位

参考例句：

• Range represents the maximum strain which can be recorded without resetting or replacing the strain gage. 量程表示无需重调或重装应变计就能记录到的最大应变。 来自辞典例句
• Adding weight to the puddle jumper by resetting its inertial dampeners. 通过调节飞船的惯性装置来增加重量。 来自电影对白

8 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

10 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

13 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

14 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

15 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

16 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

17 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

18 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

19 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。